


Ayodhya Ki Rani

by AllegoriesInMediasRes



Series: Ramayana fics [9]
Category: Ramayana - Valmiki
Genre: 10 Sentence Collection, Canon Compliant, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 06:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16213580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllegoriesInMediasRes/pseuds/AllegoriesInMediasRes
Summary: Ten sentences on the three wives of Dasaratha and the Queens of Ayodhya.





	Ayodhya Ki Rani

**Author's Note:**

  * For [avani](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avani/gifts).



**Always a Different Profession AU**

At the company party, Sumitra is as always self-effacing, and has some of the dim sum only after Kausalya takes a bite and urges her to, then again when Kaikeyi does so. **  
**

**Before the Beginning**

The aged, barren queen of Ayodhya regards the spitfire warrior princess of Kekaya standing before her, and says with a soft smile, “I think we shall be the best of sisters.”

**Bodyswap**

What tips Kaikeyi off is not her appearance in the mirror, but the fact that she feels twice as many kicks in her womb as usual, and her suspicion is confirmed when she rushes to Sumitra’s palace only to find herself staring at her in horror. **  
**

**Curse**

The smile that Bharat now reserves for Kaushalya and Sumitra alone holds a special agony whenever Kaikeyi is lucky enough to glimpse it. **  
**

**Darkest Timeline**

Kaushalya and Sumitra both throw themselves on Dasaratha's funeral pyre, and any hope Kaikeyi had for companionship goes up in smoke with their corpses. **  
**

**Fall**

Kaikeyi is the youngest out of them three, but by the first autumn after Rama’s departure, her hair turns completely white, and no matter how many remedies Kaushalya or Sumitra entreat her to try, she rejects all of them. **  
**

[ **Floriography** ](http://www.languageofflowers.com/flowermeaning.htm#anchorl)

The advent of spring and flowers means the chatter of birdsong becomes more incessant, much to Kaikeyi’s distress; Kaushalya and Sumitra are quietly understanding when they give orders that the gardens in their palaces, too, should be kept free of birds.

**Play**

In Kaikeyi’s darkest moments, Sumitra places a gentle hand under her chin and reminds her that they are mere participants in the much larger drama of fate, and that she, Kaikeyi, has played her part to perfection. **  
**

**Role Reversal**

“And you thought Bharata would be grateful to you for doing this in his name?” Kaikeyi demands furiously, eyes glittering, of a staid-faced Kaushalya. “ _Your own Rama,_ Kaushalya Didi!” **  
**

**Space**

The sudden losses of Dasaratha, Rama, Lakshman, Sita, and Bharata in rapid succession leave the palace starkly empty, and if not for Kaushalya and Sumitra, Kaikeyi thinks she might lose herself in this gilded cavernous prison.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr. Title means “Queens of Ayodhya” because I am creative. The bit about birdsong comes from Kaikeyi’s mother being banished when she tried to get her husband to share his gift of talking with birds.


End file.
